THE FLORIDA HIGHWAY PATROL IS INVESTIGATING THE CRASH AND THEY SAY CHARGES ARE PENDING. A FEDERAL JUDGE HAS THROWN OUT A MAN'S CONVICTION FOR SECOND-DEGREE ATTEMPTED MURDER BECAUSE OF FAULTY JURY INSTRUCTIONS. HE HAS BEEN LOCKED UP FOR THE PAST 14 YEARS OF A STABBING THAT DREW OUT OF A LOVE TRIANGLE. HALEY IS JOINING US LIVE AND TALKED TO HIS ATTORNEY AND TO A FRIEND WHO BOTH SAY HE WAS FRIEND WHO BOTH SAY HE WAS ACTING IN SELF-DEFENSE. HALEY. Reporter: TOM, HE HAS THREE YEARS LEFT ON HIS SENTENCE. MOVED DOWN SOUTH TO A PRIVATE PRISON AND RECENTLY TRANSPORTED BACK TO THE DUVAL COUNTY JAIL. HE IS WAITING ON A DECISION BY THE 11th CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEAL. HE HOPES TO BE RETRIED AND FREED BECAUSE HE SAID HE NEVER SHOULD HAVE BEEN LOCKED UP IN THE FIRST PLACE. HE AND HIS FAMILY MOVED HERE FROM ALBANIA IN 1998 TO BETTER THEIR LIVES. HE CAUGHT HIS WIFE HAVING AN AFFAIR WITH HIS BEST FRIEND. HE WENT TO HIS WORKPLACE TO CONFRONT HIM. ATOWARDING TO FANA, THE INDIVIDUAL ATTACKED HIM AND DURING THE FIGHT KNIVES -- BECAUSE THEY WERE IN A BREAD COMPANY -- WERE AVAILABLE AND HE USED ONE OF THEM, AND THERE WAS A KNIFE FIGHT ESSENTIALLY. AND FANA WAS ABLE TO STAB THE OTHER GUY AND GET OUT OF THERE. Reporter: HE WAS ARRESTED AND CONVICTED BUT REPEALED BECAUSE OF A JURY INSTRUCTION THAT DEALT WITH INCORRECT USE OF AN EXEMPTION TO SELF-DEFENSE. THE FAMILY HIRED MITCH STONE, AN ATTORNEY, WHO WORKED THROUGH A LENGTHY APPEALS PROCESS WHILE HE WAS BEHIND BARS. HIS CHILDREN. THERE'S BEEN -- HAS BEEN VERY HARD FOR THEM. Reporter: STONE SAID HE FOUND 16 EXAMPLES OF INEFFECTIVE COUNSEL DURING THE TRIAL INCLUDING HE NOT BEING ABLE TO COMPREHEND WHAT WAS HAPPENING. THERE WAS DEFINITELY SOME QUESTION ABOUT HIS UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. DEFINITELY SOME QUESTION ABOUT HIM UNDERSTANDING THINGS WERE NOT INTERPRETED TO HIM. AND SEVERAL DIFFERENT INTERPRETERS. Reporter: STONE SAID MANY STRANGE CIRCUMSTANCES SURROUND THIS CASE INCLUDING KEY EVIDENCE INCLUDING THE KNIVES USED IN THE FIGHT MYSTERIOUSLY DESTROYED. HOW IS THAT ALLOWED FOR EVIDENCE TO BE DESTROYED? IT WAS A MISTAKE. THAT IS BASICALLY WHAT EVERYONE SAID. IT WAS A MISTAKE. IT WASN'T INTENTIONALLY DESTROYED. YOU KNOW, IT IS A PRETTY IMPORTANT CASE. AN ATTEMPTED FIRST-DEGREE MURDER CASE IS A VERY IMPORTANT CASE, AND WOULD YOU THINK THERE WOULD BE STRICTER REQUIREMENTS. Reporter: A FEDERAL DISTRICT JUDGE RECENTLY WROTE AN 87 PAGE ORDER FOR HIM TO GET A NEW ORDER FOR HIM TO GET A NEW TRIAL. THE STATE APPEALED THAT, SO ONCE AGAIN IT IS A HOLDING PATTERN WHILE THE FORMER ALBANIAN NATIONAL SOCCER PLAYER WAITS IN JAIL. AND DO BELIEVE THE AMERICAN JUSTICE AT THE END OF THE DAY THEY WILL GIVE FREEDOM FOR MY FRIEND. Reporter: EVERYTHING IS ON HOLD UNTIL THAT FEDERAL APPEAL IS RESOLVED.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -

A federal judge has thrown out a man's attempted second-degree murder conviction because of faulty jury instructions.

Shkelqim Fana has been locked up for the last 14 years for an incident that grew out of a love triangle. Fana's attorney said he was acting in self-defense.

Fana has three years left on his sentence. He was moved to a private prison down south, but was recently transported back to the Duval County jail, waiting for a decision by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. He hopes a retrial will make him a free man, saying he never should've been locked up in the first place.

Fana and his family moved to Jacksonville from Albania in 1998 to better their lives. Two years later, he caught his wife having an affair with his best friend and went to his workplace to confront him.

"According to Fana, that individual attacked him, and during the fight, knives, because they were at a bread company, were available," attorney Mitch Stone said. "And there was a knife fight, essentially, and Fana was able to stab the other guy and get out of there."

Fana was arrested and convicted, but it was appealed because of a jury instruction that dealt with incorrect use of an exemption to self-defense.

The family hired Stone, who worked through a lengthy appeals process as Fana remained behind bars.

"Staying behind prison without seeing his children, that's been very hard for him," said Arben Goxhaj, Fana's friend.

Stone said he found 15 examples of ineffective counsel during the trial, including Fana not being able to comprehend what was happening.

"There was definitely some question about his understanding of the English language," Stone said. "There was definitely some questioning about his understanding things that were not interpreted to him, and there were several different interpreters."

Stone said many strange circumstances surround this case, such as key evidence, including the knife in the fight, mysteriously destroyed.

"It was a mistake. That's basically what everyone is saying," Stone said. "It was a mistake. It wasn't intentionally destroyed. It's a pretty important case ... You would think there would be a little bit stricter requirements."

A federal district judge recently wrote an 87-page order for Fana to get a new trial. The state appealed that, so now, once again, it's a holding pattern while the former Albanian national soccer player waits in jail.

"Suffering in prison for a long time, and I do believe to the American justice at the end of the day they're going to give freedom to my friend," Goxhaj said.

Everything is on hold until the federal appeal is resolved.

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